VAN NUYS.  –  Hundreds of Armenian-American registered to vote through Hye (Armenian) Votes, the ongoing voter registration initiative of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region, during the five-day Navasaratian Games and Festival.

Young Hye Votes volunteers, including ANCA-WR Executive Interns, were omnipresent throughout the Games, wearing t-shirts and crisscrossing the grounds with clipboards ready to register any willing and eligible individual.

The Navasartian Games and Festival, which has become an annual tradition for the Los Angeles Armenian community, attracts thousands of attendees. The Games, the largest Armenian athletic event outside of Armenia, culminate in a closing ceremony which this year had present a number of notable figures in government, including Congressmen Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, and candidates for California State Assembly Adrin Nazarian and Greg Krikorian.

Few, if any, attendees did not know about the voter registration program, either having been approached by a Hye Votes volunteer, seeing the balloons tied to every chair at the Festival, or hearing one of the many announcements from the stage.

“The significant level of excitement about Hye Votes and especially about seeing young people actively involved in registering new voters was evident among the Festival’s attendees,” said Tereza Yerimyan, External Affairs Deputy of the ANCA-WR. She continued, “This was the first large event we attended with Hye Votes and we intend to register thousands of new voters in the coming months.”